The Dairy Free Alternative Chocolate
Discovered in South America, the humble cacao tree has become the most loved ingredient the world over, so loved that each American is estimated to consume around fourteen pounds of it every year. Chocolate in its pure form is also known to have medicinal and health benefits, in fact almost pure chocolate is more readily available as people start to appreciate it in its almost pure form.
Today most cacao trees are grown in Brazil and West Africa. After scraping the cocoa beans from the pods, the beans are moved into piles and allowed to ferment. Fermentation facilitates removal of the seed coat in addition to changing the bean's colour and flavour. The beans are dried to 7% moisture content before they are roasted and the outer hull and germ removed. The remaining nibs contain about 54% cocoa butter.
The nibs are finely ground to produce chocolate liquor. The liquor is then conched (kneaded) to enhance flavour and texture. At this stage several ingredients may be added to improve smoothness and flavour. Lecithin is one ingredient that may be included in the conching process. The lecithin in milk fat functions as an emulsifying agent, helping to keep added ingredients thoroughly mixed throughout the chocolate. Lecithin also can be used to replace some of the cocoa butter in chocolate candy. Unfortunately it is difficult to identify the source of lecithin (eggs, soybeans or milk) from ingredient labels.
After conching is complete, the chocolate is either poured into blocks for storage or undergoes tempering. Tempering is a three part process which results in higher quality chocolate. The "snap" of a chocolate bar is an indication of tempering. The process begins with melting the chocolate blocks to a specific temperature and then cooling the chocolate to about 80°F and then rewarming to 85-90°F. The chocolate is then cooled and shaped. A smooth, glossy appearance indicates successful tempering. Tempered chocolates require significant cocoa butter; therefore cocoa powder and baking chocolate cannot be used. How does one identify dairy free chocolate? The following are brief descriptions of the types of available chocolate products.
Cocoa Powder: Most of the cocoa butter has been removed from the chocolate liquor. The dried liquor "cakes" are finely ground, resulting in the powdery texture. Cocoa butter content ranges from 10-24%. Natural cocoa is acidic; Dutch-processed cocoa has added alkali which results in reddish colour.
Baking Chocolate: Chocolate liquor has been cooled and solidified without tempering. The chocolate liquor content must be at least 35%. Other ingredients may be added such as sugar or lecithin.
Semisweet and Sweet chocolate: Sugar and extra cocoa butter are added to the chocolate liquor. Sweet chocolate has equal amounts of sugar and chocolate liquor. Semisweet chocolate must contain at least 15% chocolate liquor. Dark chocolate results from increased cocoa butter
White Chocolate: The Food and Drug Administration does not recognize white chocolate as chocolate because no chocolate liquor or cocoa are present. Lecithin is added to white chocolate.
Imitation Chocolate: Cocoa butter is replaced with vegetable oil.
Your natural chocolate dairy alternative is cocoa powder. You can make dairy free baking chocolate by mixing three tablespoons cocoa to one tablespoon oil per ounce of baking chocolate. Milk proteins and lactose also may be present in chocolate candy. Read ingredient labels to confirm the chocolate has no dairy products
About the Author
This article serves to highlight that a dairy free diet, allergy does not have to be bland, resoursed from http://www.ricedream.co.uk
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